I'll be a bit brutally honest in this first paragraph. This city was not my favorite. I actually didn't like it at all. It was dirty, overly packed with tourists, and teeming with panhandlers, con-artists, and pickpockets. I was very nervous about being in Rome and I think that hindered my experience. It was different for me because I'm a solo female traveler but at the same time, I just wasn't feeling it. Now that I have been perfectly honest about that, I can tell you the things I did enjoy about it.
Also, I don't have as many pictures on this one because I didn't take my iphone out that much for fear of it being stolen.
I'm very fascinated with the Roman Empire. I've been listening to a podcast series on the History of Rome for about 4 months now. I'm only to about 350 AD, there are over 150 hours of what is basically one giant history lecture. It is very well laid out and interesting, it's by a guy named Mike Duncan and you should check it out if you're interested in this kind of thing at all. It was amazing to see the original ruins where the Romans went about their daily lives in the beating heart of the biggest empire in history. Every now and again I'd stop and focus on the ruins/city around me and then delete the people, the modern buildings, the trash cans, lamp posts, keep off the grass signs, etc. Then I'd build back up the Roman buildings and insert a bustling Roman public. It's difficult to picture such an amazing civilization by merely looking upon its aged ruins.
Side note, if anyone is traveling through Italy, I highly recommend the Steve Ricks' guidebook. He also has an app and some podcasts. The audio has information on planning for your trip or just about the country in general. Best of all, he has recorded audio guides to a lot of places in Italy. This includes museums and places like that AND self-guided walks through important parts of the cities. The book is great and all the other stuff was just awesome.
Getting to the Vatican through all of the aggressive guys selling stuff, the randos milling about, people harassing me to by sketchy tickets, and pickpockets was by far the MOST STRESSFUL hour of my Italy experience. I saw someone getting pickpocketed but luckily they noticed. By the time I got to the door, I felt like crying. But in the end, it was definitely worth it. The Vatican museum was huge and extensive. I also couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that they had chiseled off all of the penises from the statues. Probably done a long time ago, but in case any of you were worried, my modesty remains intact. You could spend all day going through the thousands and thousands of paintings, sculptures, and priceless artifacts. You go through room upon room of beautifully painted ceilings and frescos. My favorite room was the map room, a long rectangle with huge maps of different Italian regions (Umbria, Corsica, Sicily, Puglia, etc.). They were all in Latin and absolutely gorgeous.
I also got to see the Sistine Chapel. It was very neat to see but smaller than I expected.
St. Peter's Basilica. In order for my words to press upon you their true gravity, let me explain something first. I am not a religious woman. Yet, I have a strong love of religious architecture. You might have guessed this by previous blog posts. Churches/Mosques/Synagogues/etc seek to pose difficult questions and capture illusive concepts with architecture. It is humbling and yet makes you feel grand at the same time. It reminds me of my favorite quote from Aristotle: "Be humble for you are made of earth, be noble for you are made of stars." While religious buildings must be practical in some aspects, their goal is to make you feel something. To question who you are and what that means. Am I everything in that I love or am I nothing but a ghost? Just another temporary weary soul to walk in and out of the magnificently carved doors and question my fleeting existence?
Religious art also portrays two main concepts, in my opinion, and they are love and loss. Two intense emotions that seem tug us back and forth our entire lives. That's why you don't need to be religious to appreciate religious art and architecture. It is all just the human experience funneled into a form we can observe and contemplate.
So, basically, I've been to a lot of religious buildings. And a LOT of cathedrals.
And St. Peter's is by far the biggest, grandest, and most magnificent I've ever seen. For the second time that afternoon, I felt like crying, but for different reasons. The gold shimmering tiles create a phosphorescent air. The gargantuan carved marble statues emerge from the arches and somehow look weightless. The architecture uses a trick where it makes the statues at the top bigger than the ones at the bottom. It serves to try and make the space look smaller, but the whole thing is so extraordinarily massive it creates a disorienting illusion. St. Peter's is the biggest cathedral in the world (maybe second, a Cathedral in Africa claims to be bigger).
I could go on about this for a while, so I guess the main point is: go visit it. It's ethereal and incomprehensible and awe inspiring.
The hostel in Rome was very comfy and personal. I liked it. If anyone is visiting any of these cities and needs hostel recommendations, just let me know.
Okay, I've been debating when to talk about my fellow travelers and now seems like as good a time as any. My fellow travelers meaning random people I meet along my journey. I can't believe how many interesting people I've met from all over the world. Everyone is so ready to strike up a conversation and socialize. It's also so genuine. I want to know about them and they are interested to learn about me. I can't count how many times I was just going to go back to the hostel to read after a long day and then ended up taking to a new person in my dorm room for hours.
If I try to come up with a list, here are the countries my fellow travelers have hailed from: England, Ireland, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Australia, Russia, Canada, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, and more than I can remember. And these are all people are got into genuine conversations with, not including the plethora of nationalities I encountered in my tour groups and things of that nature.
Solo travel has been so relaxing and sometimes it does get a bit dull thinking in circles without a companion through the day. But interesting conversation was rarely in short supply. There are so many neat people out there. And I was surprised and pleased to find out how many people found me interesting as well.
I've heard so many people say, I could never do what you're doing. While I appreciate the compliment (sometimes I can't tell if it is), I urge others to try it. It is so freeing to have such complete control over your own life. You'd be surprise by how many obligations you realize you have. These few weeks of having utter control have been so refreshing.
That being said, I'm writing this belatedly and am thoroughly enjoying traveling in the company of others after three weeks solo.
Anyway, I hate to be a bummer about Rome. I guess I felt less than welcome. I encountered quite a few rude people, and being a (sometimes overly) sensitive person, that's an easy turnoff. Plus, no one likes to feel unsafe. Constantly having to be on my guard was too exhausting. Still, I'm glad I went because there was so much to see and learn.
Next and final Italian stop: Sorrento.
